Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

South Korea uses 'cloned' drug-sniffing dogs

Ap
Sunday 19 July 2009 11:30 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

South Korea has put cloned dogs on patrol to sniff out drugs at customs.

Six genetic duplicates of a single Labrador retriever have been working at the country's main Incheon international airport and three other customs checkpoints to deter drug smuggling after completing 16 months of training, the Korea Customs Service said in a statement Sunday.

They are part of a litter of seven born in 2007 through cloning a skilled drug-sniffing canine in active service. They were all named "Toppy" — a combination of the words "tomorrow" and "puppy" — but one dropped out of training due to an injury.

The cloning work was conducted by a team of Seoul National University scientists who in 2005 successfully created the world's first known dog clone, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.

Leading the team was Prof. Lee Byeong-chun, who was a key aide to disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose purported breakthroughs in stem cell research were revealed as false.

But independent tests later proved the team's dog cloning was genuine.

The agency has said using clones could help reduce costs due to the difficulties in finding dogs who are up to snuff for the critical task of sniffing out contraband. Only about three out every 10 naturally born dogs it trains end up qualifying for the job.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in